Well, I started pulling away because I stopped playing VMK for a bit. However, the withdrawal from DIS had another point to it. Here is the entire story..
April 21st, 2007:
We wake up and take Jessie for a walk around the creek nearby. Slowly, but eventually we notice something that we didn't know would change his life, and ours. He wasn't urinating. A couple drops rarely, and then nothing. We walk him back home and try taking him inside, but he refuses and ants to stay outside. A couple minutes pass by, and he vomits on the porch (probably out of nervousness). We clean it up and immediatley call the vet. An appointment would be taking place in twenty minutes.
What could it be? Kidney failure from poisoned pet food? No.. only cat food was recalled. Kidney stones? I pray to God it's anything but the end of his life.
I sit in the front passenger seat in place of my mom, who's now sitting with Jessie in the back on a towel. After what seemed like forever, we arrive and take him inside. We check in, and check his weight on the scale. I sit outside, reading every magazine while my mom and dad are inside with my little sunshine. They come out after an x-ray and examination. After a 20 minute walk outside we come back in after the x-ray is examined. My arms start trembling.
The vet show my parents the x-ray while I wait in the office with Jessie. It's what she thought. Bladder stones. About ten tiny ones. We're also informed that he has an enlarged prostate (that could at some point cause cancer) and needs to be neutered, and if there is still time while under anesthesia, and if everything goes well, a teeth cleaning. And he needs it now.
The vet gives him a dose of narcotics and lets us take his for a walk before we leave him. Twenty minutes pass and we're back in the office. Jessie's eyes look strange, like he's in a different world. I tell him I love him and my dad begins scratching him while my mom is hugging him. The vet leads us to where his cage is. We put him inside and take off his leash. We take his towel from the car and leave it at his side. We leave and hope for a good call.
7:00 PM - Same day:
The vet calls to say he's doing alright. He is moving around in his cage and had a good walk. Although he must urinate often and goes slowly because of irritation. She says she also pulled out four loose teeth during the cleaning. She leaves him for a couple of hours and comes back at 10:00 PM. After all, the office closed at 3:00 PM but because it was an emergency the amazing people stayed and operated. She calls again near 11:00 PM, and says he is doing well and peeing well. She also says we can pick him up tomorrow.
April 22nd, 2007:
It's almost 11:00 PM and we're arriving at the vets office. It's closed today, but the two vets who operated on him are there that morning to check up on him and other animals, as well as be there to give him to us. She also needs to give us a prescription and walk him.
We pull up into the parking lot. I look at the door of the vets office and there he is, my baby, with a plastic cone around his neck looking at the floor. I jump out of the back seat and run to the door. I stratch his back a bit and comfort him after whining. In my mind I'm thanking God for everything. Not to mention the great work the veteranarians did.
He's doing fine now. The antibiotics and painkillers are working well, his doggy breath is no more and he will soon be a healthy doggy. He has had a couple of accidents in the house and does need to be let out and walked often, but he's alive. He'll have many years ahead of him, and staying up with him all night to make sure he's alright is so worth it.
April 29th, 2007:
Jessie's stitches will be coming out the next day! Either sometime in the evening. I'm so glad, because it irritates him and he has to keep stratching and licking but he's not allowed. When he does it a lot we put a plastic cone collar around Jessie's neck. He's also urinating faster than he did on Sunday and he hasn't had an accident since Tuesday! Jessie did vomit once on Friday because my mum gave him his antibiotic pill in a piece of cheese so I would swallow it, but he ate it on an empty stomach and it just didn't stay down.
April 30th, 2007:
Jessie's stitches came out today and he only growled twice! The vet gave him some epsom bath salts to make his operation area a bit softer.
TODAY, May 26th, 2007 - Almost a month later:
Jessie is slightly different in his behavior, but still overall, well, Jessie. Last week the vet showed us the bladder stone results from the lab. He has to cut down on calcium and sodium intake, and so he's on a new diet. I hope they don't come back. It makes me terrified to think he may have to go through it again. The vet said she had a miniature schnauzer with stones come in, and ten months later he had them again. The results said that dogs with stones that maintain the same calcium/sodium intake usually have a stone reuccurance in about three years. However, older dogs like Jessie do have a lower risk than younger dogs diagnosed with bladder/kidney stones.
In the end, I have come to the conclusion, when you're down to nothing..
God's up to something.
April 21st, 2007:
We wake up and take Jessie for a walk around the creek nearby. Slowly, but eventually we notice something that we didn't know would change his life, and ours. He wasn't urinating. A couple drops rarely, and then nothing. We walk him back home and try taking him inside, but he refuses and ants to stay outside. A couple minutes pass by, and he vomits on the porch (probably out of nervousness). We clean it up and immediatley call the vet. An appointment would be taking place in twenty minutes.
What could it be? Kidney failure from poisoned pet food? No.. only cat food was recalled. Kidney stones? I pray to God it's anything but the end of his life.
I sit in the front passenger seat in place of my mom, who's now sitting with Jessie in the back on a towel. After what seemed like forever, we arrive and take him inside. We check in, and check his weight on the scale. I sit outside, reading every magazine while my mom and dad are inside with my little sunshine. They come out after an x-ray and examination. After a 20 minute walk outside we come back in after the x-ray is examined. My arms start trembling.
The vet show my parents the x-ray while I wait in the office with Jessie. It's what she thought. Bladder stones. About ten tiny ones. We're also informed that he has an enlarged prostate (that could at some point cause cancer) and needs to be neutered, and if there is still time while under anesthesia, and if everything goes well, a teeth cleaning. And he needs it now.
The vet gives him a dose of narcotics and lets us take his for a walk before we leave him. Twenty minutes pass and we're back in the office. Jessie's eyes look strange, like he's in a different world. I tell him I love him and my dad begins scratching him while my mom is hugging him. The vet leads us to where his cage is. We put him inside and take off his leash. We take his towel from the car and leave it at his side. We leave and hope for a good call.
7:00 PM - Same day:
The vet calls to say he's doing alright. He is moving around in his cage and had a good walk. Although he must urinate often and goes slowly because of irritation. She says she also pulled out four loose teeth during the cleaning. She leaves him for a couple of hours and comes back at 10:00 PM. After all, the office closed at 3:00 PM but because it was an emergency the amazing people stayed and operated. She calls again near 11:00 PM, and says he is doing well and peeing well. She also says we can pick him up tomorrow.
April 22nd, 2007:
It's almost 11:00 PM and we're arriving at the vets office. It's closed today, but the two vets who operated on him are there that morning to check up on him and other animals, as well as be there to give him to us. She also needs to give us a prescription and walk him.
We pull up into the parking lot. I look at the door of the vets office and there he is, my baby, with a plastic cone around his neck looking at the floor. I jump out of the back seat and run to the door. I stratch his back a bit and comfort him after whining. In my mind I'm thanking God for everything. Not to mention the great work the veteranarians did.
He's doing fine now. The antibiotics and painkillers are working well, his doggy breath is no more and he will soon be a healthy doggy. He has had a couple of accidents in the house and does need to be let out and walked often, but he's alive. He'll have many years ahead of him, and staying up with him all night to make sure he's alright is so worth it.
April 29th, 2007:
Jessie's stitches will be coming out the next day! Either sometime in the evening. I'm so glad, because it irritates him and he has to keep stratching and licking but he's not allowed. When he does it a lot we put a plastic cone collar around Jessie's neck. He's also urinating faster than he did on Sunday and he hasn't had an accident since Tuesday! Jessie did vomit once on Friday because my mum gave him his antibiotic pill in a piece of cheese so I would swallow it, but he ate it on an empty stomach and it just didn't stay down.
April 30th, 2007:
Jessie's stitches came out today and he only growled twice! The vet gave him some epsom bath salts to make his operation area a bit softer.
TODAY, May 26th, 2007 - Almost a month later:
Jessie is slightly different in his behavior, but still overall, well, Jessie. Last week the vet showed us the bladder stone results from the lab. He has to cut down on calcium and sodium intake, and so he's on a new diet. I hope they don't come back. It makes me terrified to think he may have to go through it again. The vet said she had a miniature schnauzer with stones come in, and ten months later he had them again. The results said that dogs with stones that maintain the same calcium/sodium intake usually have a stone reuccurance in about three years. However, older dogs like Jessie do have a lower risk than younger dogs diagnosed with bladder/kidney stones.
In the end, I have come to the conclusion, when you're down to nothing..
God's up to something.
